1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to archery equipment. More specifically, embodiments relate to apparatus, system and methods for selecting an archery sight tape.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The field of archery involves the accurate placement of an arrow striking a target some distance from the point of release by the archer. Archery sights are affixed to an archery bow to allow the archer to precisely aim at a distant target. The sight includes at least one sight pin that is adjusted so that the archer can align it with a distant bullseye. The effect of gravity on the arrow's flight acts to draw the arrow back toward the ground as the arrow travels from the archer toward the target. Therefore, as the distance to the target increases, a lower sight pin elevation is employed. This results in the archer raising a point-of-aim of the bow to align the sight pin with the bullseye as the shot-distance increases. Thus, the position of the sight pin allows the archery to accurately establish the launch angle of the arrow so that it will strike the bullseye when loosed from a particular distance.
Archery sights fall into two general categories, fixed pin sights and slider-type sights. Where a slider-type sight is used the sight pin is temporarily locked in place when a shot is taken and the archer adjusts the elevation of the pin when the shot-distance changes. In contrast, fixed pin sights generally include one or more pins whose locations are adjusted in the sighting-in process and then fixed in place to provide a sighted-in pin elevation for a specific distance, respectively. Generally, the pin elevation of fixed pin sights is not further adjusted unless the user goes through the sighting in process again. Depending on the embodiment, a slider-type sight can include only a single pin or multiple sight pins. Similarly, a fixed pin sight can include a single pin or multiple sight pins depending on the embodiment.
A sight-pin is sighted-in when an archer can place the sight pin over the center of the bullseye in their line-of-sight with the bow drawn, loose the arrow with the sight pin so located, and strike the center of the target. Because of the constantly changing elevation of an arrow in flight, the preceding result means that the sight-pin is sighted-in for the single shot-distance at which that particular shot or series of shots are taken.
Generally, slider-type sights employ a sight tape that is affixed to the sight, for example, the sight-housing, and an alignment pin. The sight tape is marked with a series of marks for various shot-distances. The alignment pin provides the archer with a visual indication of the shot-distance that the sight pin is adjusted for. In some sights, the sight tape is stationary and the alignment pin moves with the sight pin as the elevation of the sight is adjusted. In other single pin sights, sight-adjustment moves the sight tape while the alignment pin remains stationary.
Referring to FIG. 1 a prior art slider-type archery sight 100 is illustrated. The archery sight 120 can be employed in accordance with some embodiments described herein. According to the illustrated embodiment, the sight 120 includes a housing 122, a sight pin 124, an arm 126 and a face 127. Further, the housing 122 can include a frame 123 within which the sight pin 124 is located. The face 127 is designed to receive a sight tape 129 which is glued, taped or otherwise attached to the face 127. Further, the sight tape 129 can include indicia 132 to provide a positional reference concerning the adjustment of the sight 120. Depending on the embodiment, the indicia 132 includes lines 130 and numerals 131 for reference. For ease of use, such indicia 132 generally correspond to distances, for example, where the lines 130 represent one yard (or other distance) increments and the numerals 131 are presented at 10 yard intervals. In the illustrated embodiment, the sight 120 also includes a reference pin 134 and a locking mechanism 136.
The locking mechanism 136 includes a thumb-wheel operated set screw, however, other means of releasably securing the position of the sight pin 124 and arm 126 can be used. In some embodiments, the face 127 and the alignment pin 134 are located at the end of a lever or other mechanical structure attached to the housing 122 that places the face 127 and alignment pin 134 closer to the archer than the location of the sight pin 124. According to these embodiments, the ratio of movement of the alignment pin 134 to movement of the sight pin 124 is greater than 1:1.
Approaches for establishing the correct position of the sight pin (for example, the elevation of the sight pin 124 in the housing 122) are described in more detail below. However, in use, adjustment of the position of the sight pin 124 is made by releasing the locking mechanism 136 and moving the adjustable portion of the sight to raise or lower the alignment pin 134 until it is aligned with the desired indicia 132. For example, the archer can adjust the sight so the alignment pin 134 is moved to align with the 40 yard mark when the archer is about to take a 40 yard shot. Provided the bow is already sighted-in, the preceding adjustment places the sight pin 124 in the proper position for a 40 yard shot. The locking mechanism 136 is then re-secured to maintain the sight pin elevation. As referred to in the preceding, the “proper position” refers to a position that allows the archer to align the sight pin 124 with the center of the bullseye 40 yards away to hit the center of the bullseye with an arrow loosed from the bow.
Today, manufacturers often provide a set of sight tapes and a marking tape for a given sight. To begin the sighting-in process, the archer places the marking tape on the sight and takes a shot or series of shots at a first known-distance to sight-in at that distance. In particular, a first known-distance that is marked on the tapes in the set of sight tapes. When the sight pin elevation is properly set for the first known-distance (the bow is sighted-in at the first distance), the archer marks the position of the alignment pin on the marking tape. The archer then takes a shot or series of shots at a second known-distance to sight-in at the second distance. The second known-distance is also a distance that is marked on the sight tapes. When the sight pin elevation is properly set for the second known-distance, the archer marks the position of the alignment pin on the marking tape. The sight tape is selected based on the distance separating the two marks on the marking tape, i.e., the gap between the two marks. Specifically, the archer compares the distance between the marks on the marking tape with the distance between the marks for the same two shot-distances on the tapes included in the set of sight tapes. The sight tape that is used is the sight tape that has a distance separating the marks for the first and second known-distances that most closely matches the distance established by the marking tape. In some approaches, a gauge is used to compare the gap on the marking tape with gaps provided on the various sight tapes in the set.
FIG. 2 illustrates a known process 110 for sight-tape selection. The process 110 requires that that the bow be sighted-in at a first distance and a second distance much farther downrange than the first distance. In particular, at act 112, the bow is sighted in at first distance (for example, 20 or 30 yards). The archer records the position of the sight pin for the first distance at act 113, for example by marking a blank set-up tape mounted on the archery sight. The process is then repeated at acts 114 and 115. For example, at act 114, the bow is sighted in at second distance (generally, 40 or more yards downrange). At act 115, the position of the sight pin for the second distance is recorded. At act 116, the sight tape for use across a range of distance from 20-80 yards downrange is selected from a set of sight tapes based on a difference between the sight pin position for the first distance and the sight pin position for the second distance.
Other manufacturers use a similar approach with a set-up tape that is pre-marked with indicia. A difference in value between a value of the numerical indicia adjacent the alignment pin when sighted-in at the first known-distance and a value of the numerical indicia adjacent to the alignment pin when sighted-in at the second known-distance is used to select the sight tape. In still another approach, the calibration tape includes a series of sight marks each labeled with indicia that associates the individual sight mark with a selected one of the sight tapes included in the set of sight tapes. According to one embodiment, the indicia expressly identifies the sight tape, for example, the indicia includes a unique identifier such as an alpha character, a numeric figure or combined alpha-numeric information. In some embodiments, the setup tape is referred to as a “calibration” tape.
Regardless, these approaches require accurate shooting at the two known distances to establish the correct sight tape. Therefore, the difficulty with such approaches is the amount of time they require to complete and the fact that long distant shots must be used for at least one of the two known-distances. For example, a first shot-distance of 20 yards and a second distance of 50 yards are recommended in one approach while shot-distances of 30 and 60 yards are recommended in another approach. The long shot-distances of 50 and 60 yards are more difficult to sight-in because the group-size of a series of arrows shot at such distances are significantly larger on average than the group-size for shots taken at shorter distances. Therefore, it becomes more difficult for the archer to assess whether they are sighted-in with enough precision at that distance. Longer shot-distances not only make it difficult to accurately sight-in they also require more space than is typically available at indoor range facilities. Therefore, it can be difficult to locate a facility that allows the conventional sight-in procedure. In addition, it is easier to lose arrows outdoors at long shot-distances.
Other archers use software to establish the sight tape that provides sighted-in marks for their archery equipment. Generally, the archer must use the software to generate a custom sight tape and then print the sight tape on a printer. Further, sight tape selection and sight tape printing of sight tapes in which the alignment pin does not move in a 1:1 ratio with the sight pin are not available.
Thus, improvements in the approach for accurately determining the correct sight tape from among a set of sight tapes are necessary.
Commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,221,273, entitled “APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ARCHERY EQUIPMENT,” issued on Jul. 17, 2012 (the '273 patent), generally describes a touchpad screen employed in an archery system including embodiments for setting a pin height of an archery sight. U.S. Pat. No. 8,221,273 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.